Tzaneen attacks kill two

Matome Maila

Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons (Diego Grez)

Two residents were killed, 15 police members injured and 19 police vehicles destroyed at Relela Village outside Tzaneen in Limpopo, when close to 1 500 angry residents attacked the police station there on Tuesday evening.

Police spokesperson Brigadier Hangwani Mulaudzi said the angry residents, armed with petrol bombs and stones, attacked the satellite police station in protest at the failure of the police to arrest the suspect who brutally killed a 16 year-old girl whose mutilated body was found at Mandlakazi last week.

The violence is also attributed to the killing of a 15-year-old boy by police during violent protests in the same area on Saturday.

Mulaudzi said nine people were arrested for public violence.

Hundreds of police officers from all over the province are monitoring the situation.

The MEC for safety, security and liaison in Limpopo, Joyce Mashamba, appealed to the communities in the area to exercise calm and restraint.

Mashamba said the deaths are receiving high priority attention by the police and other law enforcement agencies like Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) and she is confident that the two cases of the teenager deaths will soon be closed with justice served in both instances.

She said the community should also desist from taking the law into their own hands and engaging in any forms of mob justice as these will create a situation of anarchy in the area.

She added that police will maintain a visible presence in the area to guarantee the safety and security of lives and property.

“Schools must run as normal. Anybody undermining or disrupting the normal socio-economic activities of the people of Bolobedu South will be dealt with in terms of the law. We remain committed to building safer communities,” she said.